What Is the Statute of Limitations on Debt? A State-by-State Guide

A statute of limitations is a legal deadline that limits how long a creditor can sue you on a debt. Once the deadline expires, the debt is "time-barred" - the creditor has lost the legal right to win in court.

Statutes of limitations exist to protect defendants from lawsuits based on stale evidence. The longer the delay between when a dispute arises and when the lawsuit is filed, the harder it becomes to defend yourself. Witnesses move away or disappear. Documents decay or are destroyed. Memories fade. By setting a deadline, the law says: creditors, you had a certain number of years to sue. If you did not sue by then, you lose that right.

It is crucial to understand that statutes of limitations do not erase your debt. The debt still exists. You still morally and ethically owe it. But you can no longer be sued in court to enforce that obligation. If a creditor sues you on time-barred debt, your defense is to raise the statute of limitations in your answer, and the court must dismiss the case.

Why is this so important? Because debt buyers very often file lawsuits on accounts that are right at the edge of the limitations period or even past it, betting that the consumer will not raise the defense or will not respond at all. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a significant percentage of debt collection lawsuits are filed on time-barred debt. Using the statute of limitations as a defense is not only legal; it is a common necessity.

The statute of limitations clock starts when the "cause of action accrues" - a legal term for when the right to sue is born.

For most consumer debt, the cause of action accrues on the date of your last payment or the date of your first missed payment, depending on your state's law. Let us work through a concrete example.

Suppose you have a credit card issued by Citibank. You make regular payments until May 2018, when you stop paying. The creditor sends collection letters and calls. The account goes to charge-off in November 2018. In January 2019, Citibank sells the account to a debt buyer. In March 2023, the debt buyer files suit.

The key date is your last payment: May 2018. The statute of limitations clock started on May 2018, not on the charge-off date in November 2018. If your state has a 6-year statute of limitations, the clock expires in May 2024. A lawsuit filed in March 2023 is within the limitations period and is timely. But a lawsuit filed in June 2024 is time-barred.

However, some states use different accrual rules. A few states start the clock at the charge-off date rather than the last payment date. Arizona uses the "first uncured missed payment" as the accrual date. New York uses the later of last payment or charge-off date. These variations matter.

The most common rule across most states is last payment. But you must verify your state's specific accrual rule because this can shift your deadline by months or even years.

The statute of limitations varies significantly by state. Here is the exact SOL for each state where Answered operates:

**Wisconsin**: 6 years under Wis. Stat. Section 893.43, measured from date of last payment. Account stated claims have the same 6-year SOL.

**Illinois**: 5 years under 735 ILCS 5/13-205 for open accounts and credit cards, measured from date of last payment or first missed payment per state law.

**New York**: 3 years under CPLR Section 214 for consumer credit, one of the shortest in the nation, measured from last payment or charge-off date, whichever is later.

**Florida**: 5 years under Fla. Stat. Section 95.11(2)(b) for written contracts, measured from date of last payment.

**Ohio**: 6 years under Ohio Rev. Code Section 2305.07 for open accounts, measured from date of last payment.

**Texas**: 4 years under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Section 16.004, measured from date of last payment or last charge. No revival is possible for debt buyer plaintiffs under Section 392.307(d).

**Minnesota**: 6 years under Minn. Stat. Section 541.05, measured from date of last payment, with an absolute no-revival rule under Section 541.053 that even overrides the borrowing statute.

**Pennsylvania**: 4 years under 42 Pa.C.S. Section 5525, but Pennsylvania's borrowing statute ( Section 5521(b)) applies a shorter SOL if the account was issued by a bank in a shorter-SOL state like Delaware (3 years).

**Michigan**: 6 years under MCL Section 600.5807 for open accounts, measured from date of last payment.

**Georgia**: 6 years under O.C.G.A. Section 9-3-24 for written contracts, with some credit card cases treated as open accounts under Section 9-3-25 (4-year SOL).

**Kentucky**: 5 years under KRS Section 413.120 for open accounts, but Kentucky's borrowing statute (KRS 413.320) may reduce this to 3 years for Delaware-issued accounts.

**Indiana**: 6 years under Ind. Code Section 34-11-2-9, measured from date of last payment.

**Virginia**: 5 years under Va. Code Section 8.01-246(2) for written contracts, measured from date of last payment.

**Missouri**: 5 years under Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 516.120 for open accounts, measured from date of last payment or last charge, whichever is later.

**California**: 4 years under CCP Section 337, measured from first missed payment due date (date of breach), not charge-off. This is defendant-favorable because it often shortens the effective SOL compared to states that measure from charge-off.

**New Jersey**: 6 years under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1, measured from date of breach (first missed payment due date). However, New Jersey is a revival state - a single partial payment within the 6-year window restarts the clock (no written acknowledgment required).

**Arizona**: 6 years under A.R.S. Section 12-548, measured from first uncured missed payment under Mertola, LLC v. Santos (not from charge-off, which is often a year later).

Tolling is an event that pauses the statute of limitations clock. While the clock is tolled, time is not running against the creditor. Once the tolling event ends, the clock resumes.

The most common tolling events are:

**Bankruptcy**: When you file bankruptcy, the automatic stay halts most collection activity, including the running of the statute of limitations clock for debts included in the bankruptcy. The clock resumes if the debt is not discharged by the bankruptcy.

**Military Service (SCRA)**: The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. Section 3953) suspends the statute of limitations for active-duty service members. The clock does not resume until after service ends.

**Out-of-State Absence**: Some states toll the statute of limitations if the debtor leaves the state or is absent from the state. When the debtor returns, the clock resumes.

**Judicial Proceedings**: In some states, filing a lawsuit tolls the SOL on related claims.

**Written Acknowledgment**: Some states toll the SOL when the debtor makes a written acknowledgment of the debt (distinct from a partial payment).

Tolling is complicated and varies dramatically by state. If you believe a tolling event may have happened in your case, research whether your state recognizes that event as grounds for tolling. If it does, calculate the tolled period and subtract it from the running clock. The statute of limitations deadline may be later than you initially thought.

Revival is the opposite of tolling. Instead of pausing the clock, revival restarts it. A single act - usually a partial payment - can restart the statute of limitations clock from zero.

For example, suppose your state has a 6-year statute of limitations and you made your last payment in May 2018. The clock expires in May 2024. But if you make a $50 payment in March 2024 - even a small one - the clock restarts. The new deadline is now March 2030 in a 6-year state. That one payment added six more years of exposure to lawsuit.

Different states have different revival rules:

**Strict Revival States**: Some states hold that any payment - no matter how small - restarts the clock. New Jersey, Kentucky, and some other states are strict revival states.

**Partial Revival States**: Some states require a written acknowledgment (signed by the debtor, not just a payment) to restart the clock.

**No-Revival States**: Texas and Minnesota have absolute no-revival rules. Once the statute of limitations has expired, no payment or acknowledgment can restart it. This is the most defendant-favorable rule.

Why does this matter? Because after you fall behind on a debt and the original creditor charges it off, if you receive a collection letter or a call from a debt buyer asking for a payment, making that payment could restart your statute of limitations clock. A payment made just days before the SOL expiration could add years of exposure.

Before making any payment toward an old debt, verify your state's revival rule and whether the debt is still within the statute of limitations. If the debt is time-barred and you make a payment, you may have restarted the clock. Most consumer rights attorneys advise against making any payment on a debt you have not made payments on for more than a few years, precisely because of revival risk.

Calculate your statute of limitations deadline using this step-by-step process:

**Step 1: Find Your State's Statute of Limitations**. Look up your state in the state-by-state table above. Write down the number of years and the accrual rule (last payment, charge-off, first missed payment, etc.).

**Step 2: Identify Your Accrual Date**. Determine which date triggered the clock. For most states, this is the date of your last payment. Check your old credit reports, bank statements, or payment records. If you cannot remember the exact date, request a debt verification letter from the debt buyer under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Section 1692g - they must provide the information within 30 days.

**Step 3: Count Forward**. Add the number of SOL years to your accrual date. If your last payment was May 15, 2018, and your state has a 6-year SOL, count forward six years to May 15, 2024. That is your statute of limitations expiration date.

**Step 4: Check for Tolling or Revival**. Did any tolling events happen? Did you file bankruptcy? Did you move out of state? If so, subtract the tolling period from the running time. Did you make a payment after the original default? Did you acknowledge the debt in writing? If so, and if your state recognizes revival, restart the clock from that date.

**Step 5: Verify the Lawsuit Deadline**. Once you have calculated your statute of limitations expiration date, you know when the debt becomes time-barred. Any lawsuit filed after that date is time-barred.

If the lawsuit against you was filed before the expiration date, the claim is timely and the debt buyer has the right to sue - though you may have other defenses. If the lawsuit was filed after the expiration date, raise the statute of limitations as an affirmative defense in your answer and the case should be dismissed.

Debt buyers are keenly aware of statute of limitations issues because their entire business model depends on finding accounts that are still fresh enough to sue on profitably.

When a debt buyer purchases a portfolio, the data tape includes the last payment date (or charge-off date, depending on what documentation the original creditor provided). The debt buyer's servicer and attorneys then screen the portfolio to identify which accounts are still within the statute of limitations and therefore still sueable.

Accounts that are time-barred are still valuable to debt buyers, but not in the same way. A time-barred account cannot be sued on, but it can still be collected on through aggressive calls and letters. The debt buyer can demand payment even though they cannot enforce the demand through court. Consumers often pay time-barred debts because they do not know the debt is time-barred.

But when a debt buyer files suit on a time-barred debt - either knowingly or because they lost track of the timeline - that lawsuit itself is often a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The FDCPA prohibits debt collectors from attempting to collect on debts known to be time-barred, and filing suit on such a debt is generally considered a knowing violation. If a debt buyer sues you on a time-barred debt, you have not only the statute of limitations defense; you may also have an FDCPA counterclaim worth up to $1,000 in statutory damages.

The statute of limitations is what lawyers call an "affirmative defense." An affirmative defense is a valid reason for the defendant to win the case even if the plaintiff proves every element of their complaint.

The critical fact about affirmative defenses is this: the court will not raise them on its own. The judge will not dismiss the case just because the debt is old. The statute of limitations is your defense to assert, and you must assert it in your answer.

If you do not raise the statute of limitations in your answer, you waive the defense. This waiver is final. Once waived, you cannot raise the defense later at trial or on appeal.

This rule exists because the system assumes that litigants will protect their own rights. The court's job is to apply the law to the facts presented by the parties. If the defendant does not tell the court that the debt is time-barred, the court assumes the defendant does not have that defense.

In practice, this rule creates a significant trap for pro se defendants. Many people being sued do not understand that they must affirmatively raise the statute of limitations. They think that because the debt is old, the court will dismiss the case automatically. But the court will not. The case will proceed unless and until the defendant says the debt is time-barred.

When you file your answer, you must include the statute of limitations as one of your affirmative defenses. The language is typically something like: "The claim is barred by the statute of limitations under [State Statute], because more than [X] years have elapsed since [date of last payment], and the statute of limitations expired on [date]."

Do not skip this defense if you believe your debt may be time-barred. If the debt is truly old enough, this single defense can win your case.

Zombie debt is debt that creditors and debt buyers file suit on even though the statute of limitations has expired. The debt is "dead" - legally uncollectible through court - but the creditors are "suing" anyway, banking on the defendant not understanding the statute of limitations or not raising the defense.

The CFPB has repeatedly warned consumers and brought enforcement actions against debt buyers and debt collectors for pursuing time-barred debts. The issue is significant enough that the CFPB specifically identified it as a priority enforcement area.

Zombie debt is particularly common in debt buyer portfolios because the debt buyer may not have accurate last-payment-date information. The original creditor's data tape may list the charge-off date rather than the last payment date. The debt buyer's attorney, calculating from the wrong date, may conclude the debt is still within the statute of limitations when it has actually expired.

Your defense is straightforward: if the debt is time-barred, raise the statute of limitations defense in your answer. The court must dismiss the case. The fact that the debt buyer made a mistake about the timeline does not change the law.

Do not be intimidated by a lawsuit on a debt you believe is old. Verify the dates, calculate carefully, and raise the defense if the statute of limitations has expired. This defense wins cases.

When you upload your summons and complaint to Answered, the scan process checks your statute of limitations automatically. Here is how it works:

Answered extracts the key dates from your complaint: the date the account was opened, the date of first delinquency, the date of charge-off, and any other dates mentioned. Answered then matches your state to the correct statute of limitations from the state-by-state table.

Based on the dates in your complaint and your state's accrual rule, Answered calculates when your statute of limitations would expire. If the lawsuit was filed after that expiration date, Answered flags the statute of limitations as a recommended defense.

Answered also asks you about your payment history so you can verify the dates independently. If you remember making a payment after the original default, you can enter that date and Answered will recalculate assuming revival applies in your state.

This automated check is not legal advice - calculating statute of limitations correctly requires precision and state-specific knowledge. But it provides a starting point for understanding whether time-barred debt is an issue in your case. If Answered identifies a statute of limitations issue, verify the dates independently and raise the defense in your answer.